This topic is to give some inside information that needs to be known. First bit of information i would like to share is this.

HiJack This is not a tool to help clean your system of infections. It is a tool that can help detect infections and remove the entries to prevent the infection from starting up, but it doesnt remove the infection from the system completely. you must use other tools like Combofix or Malwarebytes Antimalware (MBAM) to remove such infections completely.

The last piece of information that i would like to share is this. There is no replacing a real anti-virus product with these tools. All of them rely on what is known as definitions. These definitions are what they use to determine if a item is malicious or not. These definitions are updated at different times depending on their developer. If a new 0Day (Zero Day) infection is discovered, it will take time for any developer to update their definitions and push them out to users. Which means that if your using any product you run the risk of getting an infection.

This is not to scare you or deter you from doing normal activities. But it is the cold hard truth of using any OS and going on the internet. So use a proper AV product and scan your system from time to time to check for infections. That is the best course of action you can take. The only real solution to not getting infected, is to stay off the internet. Again just a cold hard fact. But with the proper tools and a good use of common sense you can stay protected and not get infected.

There is no replacing a real anti-virus product with these tools. All of them rely on what is known as definitions. These definitions are what they use to determine if a item is malicious or not. These definitions are updated at different times depending on their developer. If a new 0Day (Zero Day) infection is discovered, it will take time for any developer to update their definitions and push them out to users. Which means that if your using any product you run the risk of getting an infection.
ood use of common sense you can stay protected and not get infected.

Thanks for all the info... anti-virus really is necessary along with the rest of your suggestions. but what type of anti-virus software can you recommend? I read an article awhile back claiming the major anti-virus software was only around 50% effective. (I didn't save the link to this article, sorry...) Do you think that's true?

There they show how some free solutions are out performing the paid solutions. I have recently done a review of a pay per use solution. BitDefender 2011 to be exact. It was great software, but more than i personally needed. For the average user, that might be worth while for them. For the Power User or PC enthusiast who have been doing this for a while it wont be worth it. As it is overkill for them.

My personal favorite is the Microsoft Security Essentials. But that is just my opinion and it is not the opinion of those of this site. We have a topic that is stickied where people vote for their top 10 favorites. If you wish to see the range check out that topic.